The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Leela to a Sandminer, a giant mining
ship. The crew of the Sandminer is slowly being killed off one by one,
and the time travellers are the obvious suspects. But the Doctor
discovers that the impossible is coming true: the Sandminer's robot
workers and manservants are responsible for the deaths, having fallen
under the influence of the crazed scientist Taren Capel, who wishes to
supplant the human race with his robotic creations.

Production

Chris Boucher was already in the process of preparing The Face Of Evil for Doctor Who's
fourteenth season when he was asked to provide the script for the next
adventure as well. This slot had originally been earmarked for The Hand Of Fear, until problems with Douglas
Camfield's “The Lost Legion” earlier in the season caused it
to be pulled forward. Boucher was asked to write the replacement story
because producer Philip Hinchcliffe and script editor Robert Holmes had
decided that Leela, whom Boucher had introduced in The Face Of Evil, would serve as a short-term
companion until the end of the year. With no time to distribute a
character outline, Boucher was the natural choice to scribe Leela's
second appearance.

On June 22nd, 1976, Boucher was commissioned to write a storyline for
“Planet Of The Robots”, which also went by the title
“The Storm-Mine Murders”. This developed from Holmes' desire
to explore robotic life in a Doctor Who serial: he had earlier
attempted this in The Brain Of Morbius, but
that story's evolution had steered it away from Holmes' initial premise.
As with The Face Of Evil, Boucher was also
inspired by his lifelong love of science-fiction. Clifford D Simak's
1950 short story Bathe Your Bearings In Blood! (also known as
Skirmish) suggested the element of an outside influence inciting
a robot rebellion, while the axioms which held the robots in check were
reminiscent of the Laws of Robotics created by Isaac Asimov, as first
given in the 1941 short story Liar! (later included in I,
Robot). The Sandminer itself drew upon elements of Frank Herbert's
Dune novels, published from 1963. The murder mystery structure,
on the other hand, owed a debt to Agatha Christie's iconic 1939 novel
Ten Little Niggers (rereleased as And Then There Were
None and Ten Little Indians).

Chris Boucher's scripts were littered with namechecks of
science-fiction authors, including Isaac Asimov and Poul Anderson

Full scripts were requested from Boucher on July 20th. The writer
acknowledged his sources by littering “Planet Of The Robots”
with namechecks to well-known science-fiction authors: Uvanov was a
corruption of “Asimov”, Poul was a reference to Poul
Anderson, and Taren Capel was an homage to Karel Čapek (who first
coined the term “robot” in his play RUR (Rossum's
Universal Robots) in 1921). Around September, Serial 4R became known
as The Robots Of Death. At about the same time, it was discovered
that part two was underrunning. As a result, its closing moments were
augmented with the subplot about the overloading motive units; the
cliffhanger had originally centred on Zilda's death.

The director assigned to The Robots Of Death was Michael Briant,
whose most recent Doctor Who work had been on Revenge Of The Cybermen two years earlier.
Briant was unhappy with Boucher's scripts and resolved to enhance the
serial with strong design elements. Consequently, Briant worked closely
with designer Ken Sharp and costume designer Elizabeth Waller to
conceive a distinctive art deco look for the story. Amongst Briant's
cast was Pamela Salem, playing Toos. Salem had unsuccessfully auditioned
for the role of Leela, but had made a good impression on the Doctor
Who production team. Her appearance in The Robots Of Death
led to erroneous media reports that Toos would also become a regular
Doctor Who character.

Meanwhile, both Hinchcliffe and Holmes had been contemplating leaving
Doctor Who at the end of the season. Head of Drama Bill Slater
asked Hinchcliffe to remain for a fourth year, however, and Hinchcliffe
agreed. He and Holmes duly set to work coming up with ideas for Season
Fifteen, such as a new alien race with smooth silicon skin. Stories they
were planning included an historical adventure (featuring a love
interest for Leela), one set on a generation-spanning vessel (which
was an idea Boucher had pursued prior to writing The Face Of Evil), a London-based tale which
saw an immense spaceship arriving in the skies above the city, a story
inspired by the works of H Rider Haggard (author of King Solomon's
Mines and She), and another based upon Joseph Conrad's 1899
novel Heart Of Darkness (which was to be written by Holmes).

In October, it was decided to move Graham Williams to
Doctor Who in place of Philip
Hinchcliffe

During the autumn, however, the decision to extend Hinchliffe's duties
on Doctor Who was reevaluated, and a new name entered the
picture: Graham Williams. Williams had gotten his start in theatre
before moving over to television in 1966. Originally intending to stay
with the BBC only until he had earned enough money to return to the
stage, Williams quickly fell in love with the new medium. He soon became
a script editor, working on programmes such as Z Cars and
Barlow At Large. He was then promoted to producer, and began
developing two series: a hard-hitting police drama named Target
and an American coproduction called The Zodiac Factor. When
The Zodiac Factor ran into problems in October, it was decided to
move Williams to Doctor Who. Hinchcliffe would, in turn, take
over Target, which was viewed as a better fit for his edgy
style.

At the same time, The Robots Of Death entered production, with
model filming taking place at the Ealing Television Film Studios on
November 2nd, 4th and 5th, directed by production assistant Peter
Grimwade. In-between, on the 3rd, the part one cliffhanger in which the
Doctor is buried alive was also recorded at Ealing. Baker disliked the
resolution of this scene (particularly SV7 rescuing the Doctor),
suggesting instead an action-packed sequence in which the Doctor swings
on his scarf to kick the door open. He and Briant argued vociferously
until Briant revealed that Graham Williams was present to observe the
shoot. Baker quickly agreed to follow the director's instructions.

The first studio session was scheduled for November 22nd and 23rd, at
BBC Television Centre Studio 8. Briant opted to use the first day
exclusively for camera rehearsals; he then taped most of episodes one
and two on the 23rd, alongside the episode three material in the crew
room and the commander's office. Although it was not realised at the
time, this day marked the final use of the wooden TARDIS console room
which had been introduced in The Masque Of
Mandragora at the start of the season. The set was not required
for the next adventure, The Talons Of
Weng-Chiang, and the wood became damp and warped in storage
before the start of shooting on Season Fifteen, necessitating its
replacement.

Work on The Robots Of Death continued with a three-day studio
block spanning December 5th to 7th in TC1; again, Briant reserved the
first day for camera rehearsals. December 6th concentrated on sequences
for part three, as well as scenes on the control deck for part two and
in Toos' cabin for part four. Baker and Gregory de Polnay, playing D84,
enjoyed a very good working relationship, to the point that de Polnay
harboured aspirations that D84 might be saved and made a regular
companion.

Having enjoyed a good working relationship with Tom Baker,
Gregory de Polnay hoped that D84 might become a regular companion

The last studio day, December 7th, largely dealt with material from the
final installment. During recording, Baker changed the scripted mention
of “Grimwol's Syndrome” to “Grimwade's Syndrome”
in honour of production assistant Peter Grimwade. Also completed was
footage in the workroom for part three, plus those sequences in the
silo, the dust scoop and the control room which needed Colour Separation
Overlay.

Briant had only reluctantly returned to Doctor Who to direct
The Robots Of Death, and although Williams was eager for him to
helm another story during Season Fifteen, Briant resisted all such
entreaties, bringing his Doctor Who career to an end. He went on
to direct episodes of Blake's 7, Secret Army, Howards'
Way, and the Emmy Award-winning 1980 version of A Tale Of Two
Cities. Briant also briefly ran his own film production company,
Linked Ring, and spent much of the Nineties working in Dutch television.
Briant now lives in France, indulging his lifelong love of sailing and
producing and directing documentaries about his travels.